The Past Is Now
by blacksouledbutterfly
Summary: A glee club reunion leads to the gang sitting in the hospital waiting for Quinn to give birth.


Rachel Berry doesn't get jealous. Well, she doesn't get jealous anymore. She has outgrown that a long time ago. Or at least she likes to think that. She likes to think that she has outgrown being jealous of people and what they had. But she isn't really over that stage. No one ever really grows out of the ability of being jealous of other people. It just happens. Jealousy is irrational. And she has always been pretty good at being irrational. But over the years she tried to push the jealousy she would feel rising up inside of her out of her when it popped up but it didn't always work.

At twenty-five years-old she has a pretty good handle on her jealousy. She knows how to keep it at bay for the most part. She had fallen out of contact with most of her high school classmates after graduation but after a few years she somehow found herself back in contact with them. Up until that point the only one that she actually spent time with was Kurt but that was simply because she lived a couple of blocks away from him, the both of them making their lives in the busy streets of New York.

She's not quite sure how she suddenly found herself in contact with all of them all over again. She knows that Kurt is probably the one to blame. It's through Kurt that she started to talk to Finn again after all those years and then through Finn she somehow got in contact with all of the others. And it should be weird talking to them all again after not talking to them for so very long but it feels as natural as it had when they were sitting in the music room with Mr. Schue. It's like all those years hadn't come between them and she's not sure if that's normal or not. She's not sure if she cares.

It's a year after she starts talking to all of them again that she walks into her New York apartment to the sound of her phone ringing. She dashes across the floor, her heels making so much noise she almost flinches and dives for the phone to answer it before the answering machine can pick up. She sounds out of breath when she actually says 'hello' and the blonde that had been basically her mortal enemy all those years ago laughs and asks if she's interrupting something. She's not, of course, but Quinn still asks. And Rachel sighs heavily like it's the stupidest question ever when it's not really. She's an adult, after all. And most adults have sex.

Quinn hasn't called her though to shoot the breeze, as they say. No, the reason for the call was to let Rachel know that Sam asked her to marry him and now they're getting married. And after a few small exchanges, a few words of congratulations from the brunette to her onetime enemy Quinn asks her if she's going to be able to come home to Lima for the wedding. She's having it there, she says, because that's where they met and it'll always be their home in a way. But Rachel tells her, with deep regret, that she unfortunately can't come because she's got to stay in New York. She's in a play and she simply can't take the time off. She apologizes profusely for the fact that she can't be there and with a great sigh Quinn tells her that it's alright though Rachel suspects that Quinn just might be telling her that so she feels better.

A couple of weeks after the wedding takes place Rachel gets a package in the mail of pictures from the wedding and a note from Sam telling her that just because she couldn't be at the wedding it didn't mean that she wasn't missed. And so Rachel takes all of the pictures and puts them into a photo album, labels it 'Mr. and Mrs. Evans' on the cover, does it up like a world class scrapbook just so that she can make sure it looks nice and collected because it's a special thing for her to have and she likes that they thought of her. It's really rather sweet and unnecessary.

When the summer is approaching Finn calls her up and tells her that everyone is going to be visiting home for the summer and that they'd all really like it if she can come. Quinn and Sam are definitely going to be there and since they're expecting a baby they most definitely would like to see her. They want to let her be a part of them celebrating the fact that they're going to have a little one. And while she's not so sure about going back to Lima for an extended visit she's not busy and she knows that seeing them all would be nice so she sort of smiles despite herself and agrees.

That's why in the second week of June she finds herself back in Lima and back in her old room from high school. Her fathers haven't changed it much at all. It's still the same shade of yellow and still looks like the room Kurt always wanted to redecorate but some of her decorations have been boxed and put in the attic so it's less cluttered, the pictures that used to sit there are now back at her apartment in New York, either on display or in boxes. It's nice to be home but she's also a little intimidated about seeing them all again. Kurt will be there though and she knows that'll make things easier at least.

Her second night there she's standing in the living room of the Hummel residence. Burt and Carole graciously offered their home as a place for them to have a little reunion party. She arrives early so that she can help Kurt in the kitchen as he prepares everything but with Kurt helping means standing out of his way when it comes to the cooking and then helping to make sure everything is arranged nightly and put out for people.

When Finn gets there she's not sure what to say to him at first. They didn't break-up on the worst of terms but she had been in love with him for so long that the idea of actually talking to him again is intimidating. Finn breaks the ice however as his face slowly breaks out into a smile and he moves over to her, wraps his arms around her in a hug, his tall frame bending over so that so that he's more level with her. And she knows that some of the awkwardness is still there but it's helped to break the ice and she's grateful for that.

Sam and Quinn get there next. Sam wraps Rachel's tiny body up in a great big hug and Quinn just smiles at the shorter girl, her hand against her stomach, rubbing over the bump where her child resides. Rachel sits with Quinn for a while and they talk about the baby. They discuss the names Quinn and Sam have been playing around in their heads for a while. And slowly the others start to file in. Brittany and Santana both arrive at about the same time, the bubbly blonde hopping over and wrapping Rachel in a bone crushing hug while Santana just watches her from off to the side and gives her a nod of acknowledgement. Blaine comes in moments later and then Tina and Mike and Artie and they all sit around, talk and catch up even though they've already started to catch up without seeing each other.

Puck comes in last, the straggler like he's not sure he really wants to be there even though she's not sure why. She doesn't notice him at first because she's talking to Blaine and asking him more about how he's been- all she knows she knows through Kurt and really all he talks about is how Blaine is planning on moving to New York soon. But then Kurt comes up to her, taps her shoulder and points in the direction of the door. Rachel turns and there's Puck, standing there talking to Finn, a rare smile on his face. He looks exactly the same and somehow older, the signature mohawk he wore in high school nowhere to be seen, his hair instead shaved the way it had been for a short period of time when they were all in glee club together. And for a moment she thinks he looks good but she refuses to say it.

Most of the night she carefully dances around having to actually talk to him because thinking how good he looked left her embarrassed but at the same time she knows she has to say help to him at some point lest she be considered rude. But she keeps making excuses not too, going into the kitchen to get things needed as soon as the opportunity arises. So that's how she ends up trapped in the kitchen with Noah Puckerman blocking the doorway so she can't get out. She freezes for a moment, not quite sure what he wants but then he just smiles at her, cocks his head to the side. "What's the matter, Berry? I don't rate a hello? Or a fucking hug? That hurts, babe." And it's so familiar that she almost laughs but then his arms open up for the requested hug and she finds herself going over and hugging him without so much as a second thought.

A week later she finds herself back in the company of Noah Puckerman. Her fathers had somehow got talked into coming over to his house with her for dinner by Puck's mother. Rachel's not really surprised. Mrs. Puckerman has always been known for being a rather persuasive person. And it's a little bit awkward at first though not entirely unpleasant. She makes pleasant small talk with Puck and his mother. She talks to his sister about how school has been for her. It's nice and more normal than any conversation she has with the friends that she has managed to make in New York. It's strange though that she feels more at home there than in the place that she has wanted to live her entire life. But being with her fathers and someone she went to school with and even sort of considered her friend seems so relaxing, so familiar that she can't help but enjoy it even as she misses the chaos of the streets of New York.

At the end of the night when she and her fathers are leaving Puck kisses her on the cheek and for one strange moment she thinks about the week they dated and how it felt to walk down the hall on his arm.

Over the next week she spends a lot of time talking to the rest of the group and yes, even Puck. She talks to them and they meet up, go to the mall like they're kids again. They go to the Lima Bean and have coffee. They talk about their times in the glee club. They talk as though no time has actually passed between them graduating and meeting up again.

Its mid-July and late in the evening when she gets a call from Finn. He sounds slightly panicked when he tells her that he was with Quinn and Sam when the blonde woman's water broke. He tells her that she's in the hospital and she's having the baby and that everyone is meeting up there. So Rachel slips her shoes back on and tells her fathers that she has to borrow one of their cars and go to the hospital.

For hours Rachel finds herself sitting in the waiting room with the rest of them, flipping through the old magazines they have there. She sits there and she feels the familiar feeling of jealousy, the kind that she hadn't felt towards the blonde since they were teenagers. She feels jealous. She feels jealous of Quinn and she's not sure why at first. She knows it's not because of Sam- Rachel always adored him as a person but never felt more than that for him. And she knows it's got nothing to do with Quinn's career or anything of the like. It takes her some time to realize why she feels jealous. She feels jealous because the truth is that she wants a baby. It's silly. It's ridiculous. It's not something she needs yet in her life. But she wants a baby. And maybe it's because of the unconditional love a child brings to their parents. She's not sure. She just knows that's what she wants.

Sighing heavily and looking down the hall like it will make Sam come out and tell them that the baby has arrived she sighs heavily, looks back down at her magazine. "I want a baby." Admitting it out loud was strange but it was the truth. Why hide it from her oldest friends? Or at least her oldest companions off some kind.

In the chair next to her Puck shifts, his head falling to rest on her shoulder. She can't believe he's actually falling asleep like that when they're waiting for Quinn to have her baby but then she remembers that it's Puck and nothing should surprise her. Still, she has the slight urge to shove his head off of her shoulder but can't bring herself to. She doesn't want to be mean. But he shifts again, tries to get more comfortable and clears his throat a little, opens his mouth and says in a scratchy, tired tone, "Mmm, not tonight, honey. I got an early day tomorrow."

Rachel's eyebrows shoot up and her eyes widen in surprise. She turns her head to look at him the best that she can in that position but al she can see is the top of Puck's head and from across the waiting room Finn starts laughing hysterically. And despite herself Rachel smiles.

It's about an hour later that Sam comes out with an insanely big smile spreading across his face and he tells them that it's a boy. He's nearly a month early but he's healthy and Sam just says he's awesome when they ask how he looks. There are a lot of congratulations and hugs- Puck even drags his tired body out of the chair to hug the blonde man- and then they all wait anxiously until they can look at the baby. Puck says that it looks like the kid didn't get his father's mouth and that he's lucky. Rachel slaps at his arm, calls him a jerk but Sam just rolls his eyes, too enamored by his child to even notice that Puck is being his typical self.

By the time they all leave the hospital they're exhausted and they all just want to go back to their childhood homes and sleep. Sam is staying the night with Quinn and their baby, of course, but the rest of them are looking forward to getting into bed and getting some much needed rest. And for Rachel it's especially needed since she's leaving in a couple of days to go back home to New York.

She's walking over to her car and Puck is walking to his truck when he calls out to her and she pauses, the door half open as she looks at him. He smiles at her, shrugs his shoulders and says, "I'm thinking of spending a week in New York before the summer ends. Who knows? Maybe I'll see you there, Berry."

Turning to get in her car she smiles despite herself, shakes her head a little bit. "I'll hold you to that, Puckerman," she calls out to him as she gets into her car.

In the second week of August Puck shows up at her door with coffee as an offering.

Rachel knows that Kurt must have given him her address. But when she looks at the smile on Puck's face she can't even pretend to be angry at her friend for handing out the information.


End file.
